Jeymes Samuel has added a novel’s worth of actors to The Book of Clarence, his follow-up to his smash feature debut, the 2021 Western, The Harder They Fall.
RJ Cyler, Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, Titans TV star Anna Diop, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard and Marianne Jean-Baptiste have joined LaKeith Stanfield and Omar Sy in the production, which hails from Legendary Pictures and that began production Monday in Italy.
But wait, that’s not all.
Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin, Teyana Taylor (Coming 2 America), Babs Olusanmokun (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), Eric Kofi Abrefa (BMF), Nicholas Pinnock (Counterpart), BAFTA winner Micheal Ward (Empire of Light), Chase Dillon (The Harder They Fall), Tom Glynn-Carney (House of the Dragon) and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Ebony Maw in Avengers: Endgame) have also been added to the roll call.
According to Legendary, Clarence is inspired by classic Hollywood epics set in Biblical times and tells the tale of Clarence, a down on his luck denizen of Jerusalem embarking on a misguided attempt to capitalize on the rise of celebrity and influence of the Messiah for his own personal gain. It is a journey that leads him on an exploration of the idea of faith and to a highly unexpected path of his own. Stanfield is playing Clarence.
Samuel is directing Clarence from an original screenplay he wrote and is producing alongside James Lassiter (The Harder They Fall), former Netflix executive Tendo Nagenda and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. Samuel is also composing the score.
Garrett Grant is executive producing the movie, which will be one of the first projects under Legendary’s new deal with Sony Pictures. The studio aims to release Clarence theatrically.
Below the line crew include director of photography Rob Hardy (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), production designer Peter Walpole (The Matrix Resurrections) and Oscar-nominated editor Tom Eagles (Jojo Rabbit). Antoinette Messam, who worked with Samuel on The Harder They Fall, returns as costume designer.
The post-production crew includes Adam Azmy (Avatar) as visual effects supervisor and Stefano Corridori (Blade Runner 2049) as special effects supervisor.
Cyler is repped by CAA and Entertainment 360 while Cumberbatch is repped by UTA, Conway van Gelder Grant and Sloane Offer. McAvoy is repped by UTA and United Agents.
Woodard is repped by CAA and Circle of Confusion and Oyelowo is repped by CAA and Hamilton Hodell. McLaughlin is repped by WME and M88, Abrefa by APA and Taylor by WME.
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